Domain Control Panel FAQs

Name server / DNS FAQs

What are domain name servers?

Domain name servers, or name servers, are the worldwide network of computers that connect domain names to web sites, email, and other services.

When would I want to change name servers?

If you register all your domain names with us and use our services, you never have to set name servers. Generally, you’ll change name servers if you want to register domain names with us and use third party services, or register domain names elsewhere and use our services.

How do I change my name servers?

Log in and click “Registered Domains”. Click the domain name for which you want to set name servers. In the “DNS Servers” row, click “edit”. If you want to use our name servers, select “Our DNS” and click “Save Changes”. If you want to use other name servers, select “Custom DNS”, type name servers, and click “Save Changes”. Be aware that most of our services require our name servers; they become disabled if you change to custom name servers. Also, be aware that name server changes can take up to 24 hours to propagate through the worldwide name server network.

Host record FAQs

What is a host record?

Host records are the connective tissue that associate domain names to IP addresses, and ultimately to things like your web site content and email. In our usage, host records include the widely used resource records (like A and CNAME) as well as the record types we’ve created for the convenience of our customers (like URL Forward and URL Frame).

What are host records for?

Host records perform several functions. They control what information your domain name connects to, and how it connects. For instance, if you own the domain name example.com and you want visitors to go to one web page if they type example.com but a different page if they type www.example.com, you achieve that by setting different host records. Host records also let you connect to your email, FTP, and other web services.

Do I need to set host records?

Most of our services automatically set host records for you—if you subscribe to our services, you may never have to touch your host records. And if you use third-party services, the service providers will tell you what records to set.

What are the basic host records?

In our system, we always show at least three host records for every domain name:

The www record specifies where you want visitors to land if they type, for instance, www.example.com.

The @ (“at”) record specifies where you want visitors to land if they type your domain name without a host name, such as example.com.

The * (“star”) record specifies where you want visitors to land if they type any other host name, such as sales.example.com.

You can add more host records if you wish.

How do I set host records?

Log in and click “Registered Domains”. Click the domain name for which you want to set host records. In the “Host Records” row, click “edit”. Use the “Type” menu and “Address” text boxes to specify www, @, and * records; add other host names and records if you wish, and click “Save Changes”.

What is the ideal setup for host records?

If your priority is letting visitors open your site quickly use as many A records as possible, plus an MX entry for the @ record, for email. However, you can mix and match record types as needed except that you should not use a CNAME record type for the @ record (it is likely to disrupt delivery of all email to the domain name).

MX and MXE record FAQs

What is an MX record?

A mail exchanger (MX) record specifies how mail should be routed for email addresses at a specific domain name. An MX record specifies a host name which should point to a mail server responsible for accepting mail at the domain, and a preference number. If multiple MX records are configured, the sending mail server will try to deliver mail to the record with the lowest preference number first. If delivery fails, the sending server will then move on to the record with the next higher numbered preference.

Can I have more than one MX record?

Yes, you can have multiple MX records as long as every host name listed will accept mail for the domain and deliver it to the same place. Most mail servers will attempt delivery to the hosts with lower preference numbers first, but this isn’t guaranteed. Records with identical preference numbers will have load split fairly evenly between them.

Can I use multiple MX records to deliver mail to some addresses to one mail system and other addresses to another (for example, POP mail and third-party Hosted Exchange)?

No, you cannot divide mail delivery on a per-user basis for a single domain name. If you configure multiple MX records pointing to separate independent mail servers then mail delivery will be split between the two servers, with each server always receiving some of the mail addressed to all users at the domain. This will result in each server bouncing mail addressed to users that are only configured on the other server.

Can I use MX records to direct mail to different servers based on host name (for example, user@mail2.example.com)

Yes, you can use third level names to direct email to separate distinct servers. For example, if you wanted all mail addressed to users @user.example.com to be handled by one mail server and mail addressed to users @corp.example.com to be handled by another mail server, you could use the following records:

user MX 10 server1.example.com

corp MX 10 server2.example.com

Note: eNom’s POP Email product cannot be configured to use third level names.

What are MXE Records?

MXE records are MX “Easy” records. They allow you to configure mail delivery to a server based on IP address. An MX record requires a host name of the mail server, and the host name must also have an A record (usually, this is handled by the third party email service, if you are using one). An MXE record combines an MX record and an A record.

Can I use multiple MXE records?

No, the MXE record automatically generates an A record and uses a default preference number, and cannot coexist with another MX or MXE record. If you require multiple records, use MX.

How do I set MX records?

Log in and click “Registered Domains”. Click the domain name for which you want to set host records. In the “Navigation” bar, open the “more” menu and select “MX Records”. Fill in the form as you wish, and click “Save Changes”.

How do I set MXE records?

Log in and click “Registered Domains”. Click the domain name for which you want to set host records. In the “Navigation” bar, open the “more” menu and select “MXE Records”. Fill in the form as you wish, and click “Switch Service to MXE Record”.